This report follows up the Consortium's 2003 data brief, Chicago High School Redesign Initiative: A snapshot of the first year of implementation. Both reports examine the implementation experiences of small high schools, and will serve as springboards for a systematic, three-year qualitative study beginning in fall 2004.

In this interview-based report, the responses of students, teachers and principals from 11 CHSRI-supported small schools are compiled to examine questions within four broad topics: how Chicago Public Schools policies relate to small schools; characteristics of the small schools; integration of support, standards, thematic focus, student interest and community involvement; and student experience and instructional reform. Notes from the Ground also includes issues for discussion and action among stakeholders, as Chicago continues to open small schools under the proposed Renaissance 2010 plan.

With expectations for technology use and its potential costs continuing to rise, the Consortium on Chicago School Research sought to provide baseline information on educational technology -- the use of computers and the Internet for instructional purposes -- in Chicago public schools. We addressed three questions in a year-long study that included both quantitative and qualitative analyses: (1) What are the current levels of technology availability and use? (2) Are availability and use distributed equitably across students, teachers, and schools in the district? and (3) What essential organizational supports are necessary to encourage technology use in schools? We examine these topics by looking at nearly 100,000 responses to the Consortium's biannual survey of teachers and students in 434 of Chicago's schools, in addition to other administrative data. Further insight was gained through site visits to schools with model technology programs.

This study was sponsored in part by the Chicago Urban League.

The Illinois State Board of Education sets the official method for calculating graduation and dropout rates in the state. According to that method, the graduation rate for Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is 69.8 percent. The Consortium calculates that only 54 percent of CPS students graduate. What accounts for this disparity? The answer is that calculating graduation and dropout rates is far more complex than simply dividing the number of graduates by the number of students enrolled in a school. Decisions about how to construct the formulas used to calculate these rates affect the resulting numbers. Decisions about how to define terms like "graduate," "drop out," and "transfer" also affect the graduation and dropout statistics.

This report was created using the individual records of all CPS students, which produces the system's actual graduation and dropout rates rather than estimates. This report also breaks down graduation and dropout rates by race/ethnicity, gender, community area, and school. Extensive tables and graphs present this information from a variety of perspectives, in order to provide the most nuanced, accurate, and detailed picture of CPS student outcomes that is currently available.

The Illinois State Board of Education sets the official method for calculating graduation and dropout rates in the state. According to that method, the graduation rate for Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is 69.8 percent. The Consortium calculates that only 54 percent of CPS students graduate. What accounts for this disparity? The answer is that calculating graduation and dropout rates is far more complex than simply dividing the number of graduates by the number of students enrolled in a school. Decisions about how to construct the formulas used to calculate these rates affect the resulting numbers. Decisions about how to define terms like "graduate," "drop out," and "transfer" also affect the graduation and dropout statistics.

This report was created using the individual records of all CPS students, which produces the system's actual graduation and dropout rates rather than estimates. This report also breaks down graduation and dropout rates by race/ethnicity, gender, community area, and school. Extensive tables and graphs present this information from a variety of perspectives, in order to provide the most nuanced, accurate, and detailed picture of CPS student outcomes that is currently available.

The Illinois State Board of Education sets the official method for calculating graduation and dropout rates in the state. According to that method, the graduation rate for Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is 69.8 percent. The Consortium calculates that only 54 percent of CPS students graduate. What accounts for this disparity? The answer is that calculating graduation and dropout rates is far more complex than simply dividing the number of graduates by the number of students enrolled in a school. Decisions about how to construct the formulas used to calculate these rates affect the resulting numbers. Decisions about how to define terms like "graduate," "drop out," and "transfer" also affect the graduation and dropout statistics.

This report was created using the individual records of all CPS students, which produces the system's actual graduation and dropout rates rather than estimates. This report also breaks down graduation and dropout rates by race/ethnicity, gender, community area, and school. Extensive tables and graphs present this information from a variety of perspectives, in order to provide the most nuanced, accurate, and detailed picture of CPS student outcomes that is currently available.

This report and the companion report, Ending Social Promotion: Dropout rates in Chicago after implementation of the eighth-grade promotion gate, are the final two reports in the six-year ending social promotion series. This report describes the experiences of third- and sixth-grade students who did not meet Chicago Public Schools' promotional test-score cutoffs and were retained in grade. Researchers examine how the practices resulting from the policy affected the retention experience and evaluate the impact of retention on students' achievement growth and experiences in school.

This report and the companion report, Ending Social Promotion: Dropout rates in Chicago after implementation of the eighth-grade promotion gate, are the final two reports in the six-year ending social promotion series. This report describes the experiences of third- and sixth-grade students who did not meet Chicago Public Schools' promotional test-score cutoffs and were retained in grade. Researchers examine how the practices resulting from the policy affected the retention experience and evaluate the impact of retention on students' achievement growth and experiences in school.

This report and the companion report, Ending Social Promotion: Dropout rates in Chicago after implementation of the eighth-grade promotion gate, are the final two reports in the six-year ending social promotion series. This report describes the experiences of third- and sixth-grade students who did not meet Chicago Public Schools' promotional test-score cutoffs and were retained in grade. Researchers examine how the practices resulting from the policy affected the retention experience and evaluate the impact of retention on students' achievement growth and experiences in school.